Western Crime Thrillers

Exeter-based DS Pete Gayle is already busy with a child-snatching case when a call comes into CID that a body has been found in Exwick cemetery. And this burial, in a shallow grave among the trees bordering the graveyard, is not an official one. With nothing but the skeletal remains to go on, Pete must find out who the dead man is, how he got there and, most importantly – who put him there?

The murder of a young woman... A cryptic 17th-century love poem... And a photograph of a mystery grey-haired man... More than enough to set Chief Inspector E. Morse on the trail of a killer. And it's a trail that leads him to Lonsdale College, where the contest between Julian Storrs and Dr Denis Cornford for the coveted position of Master is hotting up. But then Morse faces a greater, far more personal crisis....

Will Cannon rescues Mountain Mike, the last living mountain man, from a gang of outlaws from Taos, New Mexico. The gang of ruthless outlaws are trying to steal Mike's silver claim. Will gets some cowboys and some vigilante miners and devises a plan to rid Taos of the outlaws.

This book is a work of fiction that tells the story of the first gold strike in the Montana Territory along Willow Creek in 1862. The gold camp grew to over 10,000 people, and Bannack became the first capitol of the Territory of Montana. My story tells about the lives of the four gold miners that made the strike, and it recounts the many hardships endured by the men and women living in a gold camp in the high mountains.

No CompassionA vicious rape, a woman left traumatised. A previous victim is quickly identified. Then more come forward.A serial rapist is attacking the women of Exeter in their beds at night. There are fingerprints and DNA but no matches, CCTV but no identification. With the press clamouring for answers DS Pete Gayle and his team must work through a maze of conflicting evidence to identify and arrest the offender before he can commit another brutal attack.

Wilbur Pickett is a retired rodeo rider with big dreams. Dreams of a secure future for himself and his native American wife, a blind woman who sees more than a blind woman should thanks to her ancient heritage. When Wilbur happens upon a parcel of land with black gold waiting for the taking he also happens on Deitrich and a whole bunch of violent problems. Only lawyer Billy Bob Holland is prepared to stand up for Wilbur, to stand against the juggernaut that is Deitrich and his corrupting influence.

It’s 1975, and cowboy Johnny Riles is a headcase. He’s depressed, he’s drunk, and he’s lonesome as hell. Left by his family to care for the ranch on his own, Johnny manages to keep the cattle alive while struggling to justify his own existence. Embittered by the success of his younger brother, Kitch, a professional basketball player, it is only thanks to a salt-dry sense of humor and a plentiful supply of whiskey that Johnny keeps himself aboveground.

Mob rule had taken over the border town of Whetstone, New Mexico. Black-hooded vigilantes were stringing up those they considered to be "undesirables" for even the pettiest of crimes. Someone somewhere had to bring peace back to the beleaguered town - but who in hell was it going to be?

Self-Consumed contains the title story as well as Bagged, Tagged, & Buried. Both tales were featured in the out of print Journals of Horror anthology. They are both reprinted here for the first time and have been polished and edited. In Self-Consumed, a wealthy businessman who killed a young girl while drunk-driving discovers that guilt isn't the only thing that will eat someone alive.

A fast-paced tale of intrigue and murder in the international art world. When the daughter of an old Florentine family dies, she leaves a bequest to her lover Max Mather, an American art historian who has been managing the family's rare art collection. Mather is left with two priceless artworks by the great Renaissance master Raphael - without the family's knowledge. As Mather contrives to have the artworks discovered at auction in New York, big-time collectors, dealers and auctioneers are drawn into his game.

After returning from being loaned out to another agency, Curt is anxious to get back to the quiet, small town police work that he really loves. Department personnel have changed while he was gone. One of the changes is a new dispatcher working behind the desk when he walks in that night.

Elaborate cons, impossible heists, and high-speed chases were his thing. His talent in boxing and engineering made those pursuits a gamble with death he never wanted to quit. Then he left the world of crime with his woman, a blonde bombshell who was also accomplished in boxing and was his engineering equal. Their late boxing coach gives them a reason to return to "the life" with his last wish. His will instructs his former pupils to join with other talented individuals; to form a team that will commit major crimes for the sake of communities on the Gulf Coast.

Their eight-year-old son was kidnapped by an international human trafficking ring. The authorities cannot find him. Harry and Sharon will stop at nothing to find their son, even when their own lives are in danger as they get too close. Jamie was kidnapped from his school playground, drugged, and taken far away.

Eco-activist Summer Avery abandons the bustle of New York City and scurries to the tiny coastal village of Tide Harbor, determined to accomplish what a crazy bomber has not—stop the destructive Minas Basin tidal energy project in its tracks and earn the EcoGreen directorship. Desperate for a safe place to raise his autistic daughter, recently divorced marine biologist Gil Moses takes a job with the tidal energy company, ostensibly to study lobsters, but actually to capture the bomber.

Justice always comes. Claire Vetra is looking for two men. The first man she’ll kill. The second man she’ll also kill - after she makes him watch as she destroys everything he’s built. This is only the start of Claire's revenge against the World Alliance Order, which held her hostage for a year and subjected her to live human testing in the name of medical science. But when Claire begins to unravel her past, she discovers that unlocking the memories of what happened to her might destroy the remaining shreds of her sanity.

Will Cannon had gone to Durango a few years ago and taken care of the Silver Dollar Killer and the Edwards Gang, but now a new group of murderous outlaws are taking over Durango. Will and his brother, Joe, do business in Durango, and he is not going to allow a gang of outlaws ruin his business there. Will rides to Durango and later to the lawless mining camp of To Hell You Ride, Colorado, to fight the outlaws. He enlists the help of some miner vigilantes and some young cowboys and Pete Abrams and his other men from Chama to fight the outlaws.

In East London, two photos of a dark-haired woman begin to circulate on social media. In one, she is alive but terrified. In the second, her lifeless form is splayed out in the woods, her torso streaked with blood. Though they haven't yet located the crime scene, Detective Fenton and his team can't help but hear about it - after all, the murder is trending. Before long, the killer taunts the world with a new series of posts featuring a new victim, and Fenton finds himself searching for a serial killer with a rising body-count…and a fan following.

Six men rode into the west Texas town of Rook in December of 1895. Moments later, all six men lay dead in the street, shot to death by the good citizens of the town. Ira “Doc” Pearson is sent by the Texas Rangers to investigate, expected to just rubber stamp the proceedings for the dead men were known as the Lawrence Gang: wanted in Texas and New Mexico for bank robberies, rustling, and murder.

He is looking for a little bit of peace and trying to start a new life, but everywhere he goes, trouble seems to find him. This time, it comes in the form of a beautiful woman.

Ted Sweeney. Affable everyman in small-town Montana. Tailgate hung on with baling wire, owner of his own business. Ten minutes ago, his biggest worry had been how to pay for the engagement ring rattling around in his pocket. But that was before he came home to find a corpse tidily arranged in his favorite recliner, his "old pal of a piece of furniture". Is it a warning or a setup or what? Sweeney can't help but admire the efficiency of the work, the slice deep across the guy's throat. Somebody knew what they were doing.